The Return to Moria
by RubyD
Summary: After the War of the Ring, the Dwarves have retaken Moria. Gimli convinces Legolas to visit, but there are still things hidden in Moria's shadows best left undisturbed... (Chapter VI up)
1. The Long Dinner

Notes: First time Ring-fic here. Going with the flow, so sorry if I manage to traipse my way through Middle-Earth factually inaccurate and with half-cooked sentence structures. Forgive me for my gratuitous use of Over- and Melodramatics. No slash, but smarm, so never fret.  
I had a different story up earlier but to my dismay when I re-read RK I found my germ of a plot was entirely implausible, so I have rewritten the whole thing, short as it was.  
Without more delay:  
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter I: The Long Dinner  
  
By RubyD  
  
***  
  
'I may adore your Glittering Caverns, Master Dwarf, but I save no love for this one!' protested Legolas as Gimli bade him to visit Moria.  
  
'It is safe, I assure you!' said Gimli as he drank down his foamy mug. It was a late dinner at one of the many lively bars in Dimrill Dale. Four hours they spent discussing the happenings of the mountain that loomed darkly in Legolas' memories.  
  
'Safe?' inquired the Elf with a disbelieving look.  
  
'Well,' he added reluctantly, 'mostly safe.'  
  
'Gimli!' Legolas sighed in exasperation. 'After all that had taken place during the Fellowship and in that pit I can't believe you are asking me to go back.'  
  
'But this have changed, as you well know! Back three years ago Mirkwood had gathered about an army to reclaim Moria. Even Aragorn sent his men to aid us! Ah, it gladdened me to see those long lines of Dwarves marching to the gates and thrashing the Orcs standing in the way!' Gimli pounded his fist heartily on the table. 'There were a great many of the foul demons indeed.'  
  
'I heard that the Orcs who escaped the War of the Ring had fled there. Did they give a good fight?'  
  
'A grand one! You should have been there, Legolas!'  
  
'I was in my own lands, convincing some of my people in Greenwood to come down south,' he said. 'They are now in Ithilien.'  
  
'And the land is better for it.' Gimli nodded. 'What once was dead has sprung new life - and so is the same in Moria! It is the home in which we all should have encountered when we first entered not a decade ago.'  
  
'Seven years, I believe,' said Legolas.  
  
'Right, you are. And my kin will give you a fine welcome! For if I am an Elf-friend, then you are a Dwarf-friend! Lord Talin* would certainly be disappointed if you didn't give one visit after the tales I have told about you. What halls that were once dark are filled with glorious lights that could rival the sun and moon in magnificence! Empty walks now busy with Dwarves who explore the depths again for mithril, and cold chambers made warm with the brilliance of fire and jewels. And save for the few Orcs that have crawled deep into the holes, deeper than we have ventured for fear of disturbing any more Balrogs that might be sleeping, there is no need for fear and it is safe.' Then he added: 'Mostly.'  
  
Legolas shook his head, but laughed. 'You do not inspire much confidence in me, my friend - '  
  
'Aye, sorry about that.'  
  
' - But I do not wish to disappoint the Lord of Moria after all the tales you have told me of him.' The Elf smiled. 'It may be a chance to compare stories and see what exaggerations you've been saying behind our backs!'  
  
'Oh, you wound me!'  
  
'One that will heal . . . although, I am curious now. Curse you and your talk, friend!'  
  
'So do you give and will come?' asked Gimli with a great twinkle in his eyes.  
  
'I give!' he declared, throwing up his hands. 'If only to finish this conversation and be able to eat. This food has been cooling for a long while.' He motioned to the untouched bowls decorating the wood surface in front of them.  
  
'Then we will order for fresh plates!' cried the Dwarf. 'For I am happy, Master Elf, that you will be finally able to see what Moria should be! Ai, order up more food!' With a wave of his arm he accidentally knocked over a servant carrying several mugs of drink and they landed on the floor in a loud splatter. 'A fine waste of beer,' he said remorsefully.  
  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Notes: So I made up a new Lord of Moria. Oh well, c'est la vie.   
And thank-you Sundance! Blue Meanie? I, Four Sacred Streams, did some editing. 


	2. Through the Mirrormere

Notes: *bangs her head on the keyboard* Oh, just shoot me with a silver arrow. I really must follow my own advice and read the damn book more closely. I have edited my mistakes in this chapter as best I can and to at least follow the history as I know it (which is little). So mistakes are mistakes and I'm just going to have to live with them.  
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter II: Through the Mirrormere  
  
By RubyD  
  
***  
  
The next morning they set off on foot, as it were but two hours walk from the new town in the far end of Dimrill Dale to the Great Gates. The burning orb of the sun rose from the horizon like dew on a leaf and washed the lands in its warming rays. Legolas and Gimli looked down upon the town before they headed off, marveling in the transformation of the once empty mountain lands the Fellowship had passed in their escape from Moria, from Khazad-dum.   
  
'I came here only hoping to stop for a moment's time to speak to you before continuing towards the forest of Fangorn,' said Legolas, 'but I feel that this detour would be worth a while away from the Ents.'  
  
'Yes,' responded Gimli, and said no more.  
  
The path to the Gates was well worn from the travels of many Dwarves and Men. It glided like a smooth gray river winding around in the best of places to lead further through the Misty Mountains. Gimli and Legolas passed Durin's Stone where many lifted their heads in honor, and then Mirrormere where more folk were gazing into its perfect sapphire depths. Others on the road waved a cheerful greeting to the pair, and Legolas felt the unease of Moria began to lift in him.   
  
The area had changed and with it a frail, and very precarious, veil of caution and spirit seemed to have descended on the Dale. Even now, that veil had been disturbed and people whom were surprised to find an Elf in their midst stared, to his discomfort, but smiled all the same, though a few smiles did not reach the eyes - and teeth turned into sneers. It was well known that Elves and Dwarves had a rift of separation between them.   
  
Yet if one were looking upon the easy and close friendship of Gimli and Legolas as they reached the rim of the pool, one would never have suspected of such a disagreement between cultures.   
  
'Here lies the Mirrormere,' said Gimli with slight regret. 'Many times have I stared into its waters, remembering when Gandalf had fallen with the Balrog and we all thought him dead. Even though we know that is not true, I shall find no joy in its depths for many years.'  
  
'It is beautiful,' Legolas said softly. He and the Fellowship had peered into it seven years ago, and upon them shown the beauty of the land in its reflection.  
  
'Then have a closer look, friend! And maybe you will find what I have lost.'   
  
The Elf stepped lightly over the smooth steps of gleaming stone to the edge of the pool, where he knelt. Mirrormere was deep - deeper than his keen eyes could perceive, clear yet very dark, and blue like the sky at daybreak before the stars have faded and the birds have sung. And suddenly his heart began to yearn for the sea. This was different than that first time. There was music in the waters, soft and tantalizing, and it pulled at his soul as he would the bow and arrow on his back. It beckoned Legolas to lean further towards it surface . . . So beautiful.   
  
Without warning a strange fancy came unbidden to him of old dark worlds unknown and ghastly creatures unseen. Then the Mirrormere faded black, and a glimmering glow seemed to shine at him from a great distance, white and cold. A terrible clamor was upon his ears and the sounds rose like an echo of a long-finished symphony. Dread wrapped its wispy claws around him and he bowed ever closer, unable to break the draw.  
  
A hand on his shoulder wrenched back his body, and the vision disappeared as quickly as a dream.  
  
'Take care that you don't fall in,' said Gimli with worry. 'It is very cold and very deep.' The rough and callused hand released, and then the Dwarf laughed. 'See something you like?'  
  
'There is something about this lake.' Legolas stood, eyes searching the clear waters for any sign of what took place. There were none, and his unease returned. 'Something like . . . like power. Faint, yet there. What could it be?'  
  
'Not much is known about the Mirrormere, save for it is unnatural-like in loveliness. It is calm even in the wind and the ripples of rocks thrown down into the water dissolve swiftly and become still.' Gimli nodded. 'For all that could be, Galadriel herself might have bathed in it.'  
  
'You would think that.' He sent him a look of distaste.   
  
'Come, I was merely jesting, but I see now something has disturbed you. What was it that you saw?' Gimli gazed into it and found nothing that he hadn't noticed before.   
  
'A vision, one that somehow has me troubled.'  
  
'Then worry no more, Legolas, for the Great Gates to Moria are just over yonder and we will leave this far behind. We'll investigate this further in the knowledge of the Dwarves. Visions will come and go, and we also must.'  
  
'It's probably nothing,' said the Elf, blinking thoughtfully. 'Nothing more than some old trace of a spell. We will arrive to Moria without fret. Let us go.'  
  
Up the stone steps they climbed with the sun reaching midmorning, and they did not look back.  
  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Notes: *grumbling to herself* It's 'white and cold' not 'red and hot'! *frantically rewrites* This will be the fourth time I upload this! Smite it! 


	3. Beyond the Great Gates

Notes: So how are you readers? I'm having a fine month over here, though I've been to two first-birthday parties (my cousin and my other cousin's son…), and at each of the celebrations I have discovered that I have inherited my father's genes for low-tolerance to alcohol. Not that I got drunk, mind you, but after one cup of wine cooler I was drowsy for two hours.   
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter III: Beyond the Great Gates  
  
By RubyD  
  
***  
  
As the Great Gates drew ever nearer Legolas could see how grand and splendid the reconstruction had been. All at once the great gleaming Gates shown in the light, showering the area in reflections of rainbows from its mithril - truesilver, the strongest and lightest of metals - frame and designs dotted with many-hued jewels in the shapes of the stars. Just past the doorway were endless Dwarves hustling and bustling about in their daily business of going in and out like a happy hive of bees which had discovered a fresh field of pollen.   
  
They paused a moment in the Gates. The high walls of the First Hall were lit up by the light of the sun spilling in through the high and enormous windows. The entryway was wide open for all to pass, and it seemed Gimli was the most recognized of all.   
  
'Oi, Master Gimli, Lord of the Glittering Caverns! Welcome back!' the Dwarves would cry with their baritone voices that echoed off the walls, then faded in the deep. 'Who is the Elf?'  
  
'This is Master Legolas, Dwarf-friend, the one I have spoken so much about!' he called back. 'Bid him welcome, and show him true hospitality.'  
  
'Yes, welcome! Welcome Master Elf!' And the news carried rapid as a waterfall throughout Moria until everyone, even the deepest of miners and makers and creatures in the darkest of caves, knew of the arrival of the two who were in Company of the Ring. Everyone.  
  
Legolas was amazed; it was as if half of all the Dwarves of Mirkwood had picked themselves up and relocated to Khazad-dum once the word got out that Durin's Bane, the Balrog, had been defeated. In this there was a jovial spirit that could not be found anywhere else. Proud to have reclaimed what was theirs, the citizens of Moria had transformed it with astonishing speed from a dreary catacomb into *life.*   
  
Beyond the First Hall were stairs, and then a large door as high as eight Men. Further within was the bridge. And then they saw the bridge that had shattered under the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, now rebuilt and open for crossing once more. Quite appropriately it was named the Fell Pass, though most would refer to it as Better Bridge, since iron reinforced it. Smooth it was on the surface, with a web-like support made of metal underneath.   
  
Gimli and Legolas walked at a slower pace, heedful of the gaping mouth of darkness that lead forever into a shadowed night without stars or sky; a cavernous maze that would leave any poor soul mad and lost for the rest of their lives, and hunted by creatures that wished that life short. What dwelled in that dark none would ever say. Gandalf escaped only by following a Balrog to the Endless Stairs, which was a dangerous task, and chased it all the way to the mountain top where a battle took place. There the only known entrance to the Stairs, called Durin's Tower, was lost under snow and ruin; and the knowledge of even where that lay Gandalf brought with him over the sea.  
  
'A bitter wind rises like a foul bird,' he said to Gimli, feeling the air emanating from the black chasm. 'I am glad that Gandalf is alive and well, resting in the Grey Havens, instead of down there . . . Eternally wandering.'   
  
In a few steps they were across and at the First Level where seemingly an infinite number of torches decorated the thick stone columns, like fireflies on a mallorn tree, with a frequent dazzling gold cage of white light. Indeed these lights nearly rivaled that of the sun. Here Dwarves were fewer, already have left to the deeper recesses of the mines. At Gimli's inquiry they were lead by a guard to a chamber Legolas had never been in to meet with Lord Talin. It was a banquet room where meals had already been set up on a long stone table and many people eating. The smell of hot and spiced meats and foods steamed out into the caves.  
  
'Gimli! A happy return!' It was Talin, his braided beard black with youth and expressive face carven in a smile. 'This must be Legolas! We have must to speak about, you and I, and mostly of the stories I have heard from the old Dwarf. Delighted to finally meet you.' The Lord took up the strong elven hands in his own coarse ones and shook enthusiastically, like friends greeting friends after a long separation.  
  
'Well met.' Legolas grinned.  
  
'Old?' grumbled Gimli. 'I am in the midst of my best years!'  
  
'Of course, of course, no insult intended,' he laughed. 'You and your Dwarf-friend have arrived on time for early lunch. Sit, have a bite!'  
  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Notes: *cuddles fic* My precious . . . 


	4. Of New Lords and Old Realms

Notes: I have adopted Gollum as my muse! Isn't he cute?  
Gollum: *snarls*  
You readers might as well skip the beginning and go all the way to the end of this chapter. Not much happens.  
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter IV: Of New Lords and Old Realms  
  
By RubyD  
  
***  
  
Legolas watched, quite astonished, as the Lords of Moria and of the Glittering Caves dove ravenously into their lunch as if they had gone without food for several days. In fact, all the Dwarves at the table ate with gusto and voiced their appreciation to the cooks. It was fairly messy.  
  
When taking a forkful of strange vegetables to his mouth, the Elf was pleasantly surprised. The food tasted unlike any he had sampled before - spicy and strong, yet good. He ate neatly and enjoyed each bite.  
  
'Not since the likes of Lothlorien have I tasted such fine food,' Gimli approved. His polished gray goblet and plate were soon empty then refilled by the servants.  
  
'It is very good,' agreed Legolas. 'Where do you find such vegetables?'  
  
'We grow them right here.' Talin beamed proudly.  
  
'Here? In Moria?'  
  
'Yes! Not many people know, or care to know, that we can plant fields of delicious cave-root in our trenches where the soil is rich and we place our giant lamps. Rows upon rows of the pale leaves line the columns of the deep like a feathery mist and cleanse the air so that we may breathe.'  
  
'Amazing.'  
  
'It is, it is. A plentiful of things can live in these depths. I have been raised on the tales of Khazam-dum, and that I may discover these for myself brings joy to this young heart.' Lord Talin sighed. Then turning to Gimli he asked, 'And how are you and your caverns going along?'  
  
Gimli broke into a smile at this change in topic. 'Magnificent! Ah! Like songs woven into stone. You must see them one day, and behold the beauty that surpasses all, save for the Lady of the Woods. The roofs! The walls! They are impossible to describe.'  
  
'Though no doubt you would attempt to, if we allowed it,' said Legolas.   
  
'There are some here at Moria that are simply passing through before leaving for Helm's Deep,' said Talin. 'News of the caves have sparked their interest, and it won't be long until you will have your own little kingdom, friend.'  
  
'Which worries me to no end,' grinned the Elf.   
  
'And you, Legolas son of King Thranduil, a prince,' replied Gimli, 'The day you take your throne undeniably would be a frightful day for Middle-earth.'  
  
'Enough!' laughed Lord Talin. 'Before I forget, how long are either of you staying?'  
  
'Three evenings, I had hoped,' said Legolas.  
  
'I shall linger for more before returning to Helm's Deep.' Gimli nodded.  
  
'Wonderful! Then the servants are to lead you to your chambers. Forgive me if I am not close by for much time, but I will appoint someone to show you around.'  
  
'We will have a marvelous time.'  
  
***  
  
And indeed they did. Legolas learned all he could about the history of Moria and the Dwarves that stayed there. He saw dirty lumps of rock being transformed into fabulous jewels that showered the walls with their light, and ore melted down then forged into works of wonder and majesty enough for the hall of King Elessar. Fires heated the previously cold and dank realm.  
  
All too soon two days had already gone by, and Legolas and Gimli were exploring the lesser used paths that lead into pale rooms or broken floors. Few Dwarves tarried here, and those who did were wary of the shadows, for Orcs still thrived the mountains.   
  
Afterwards they returned to the First Level and the bridge. The draw of the old landmark had not left their mind, and they both treaded on one side of the gaping gash, almost fatally curious. The hole had been the subject of many dreams, and still now the gloom of the pit covered them like a thick blanket.   
  
'What is it about this place that hangs in our minds like old webs?' asked Legolas. The wind whistled softly from the blackness. 'It whispers to me. I am terribly drawn to it.'  
  
'Void is so vast that it seems to begs to be filled up,' said Gimli.   
  
'Filled up with what, I wonder?' Then in a crack in the canyon side, Legolas spotted a dark figure scaling up the wall. With its sharp little hands and large yellow eyes, he knew it all to well. 'Look there!'  
  
'An Orc!'  
  
As if their shouts were a signal, Orcs spilled out into the First Level in waves, crawling like insects out of every exit or entrance. It was a final surprise attack by the fell creatures to overpower the Dwarves and hold fast once more to Moria. It was by misfortune that the two were caught in the battle.  
  
Gimli welded his axe like an extension of his arm, cleaving the arc of steel through goblin flesh as easily as water. The Dwarves that were there took up arms and raged against the enemy with whatever weapon that was nearby, be it sword, bow, or stone. Arrows descended and struck Gimli heavily on the side. He groaned and staggered, yet continued fighting.  
  
'Gimli!' shouted Legolas. He had not his bow and arrow, having left it in his room, and made due work of the short blade he carried on his back. They were much too close to the edge of the chasm and there was nothing between them.  
  
'One arrow, no worry!' he called. Steel and iron clashed and repeated like a pulse down the mines. 'Take that you scoundrels! You slime festered villains!'   
  
'But I - '   
  
He never finished his statement. At that moment an armored Orc slammed into the Elf and sent him careening backwards. Step after step the force pushed him, until Legolas suddenly felt the edge of the vacuum. He teetered there for an uncertain heartbeat, releasing his sword. A moment of spiking fear that lasted for an eternity.   
  
Gimli echoed the look on his companion's face, one of unbridled panic, before his footing gave way and Legolas slipped into the abyss.  
  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Notes: Surprise. 


	5. Lossst

Notes: Zzz…  
Gollum: D is asleep . . . Smeagol writes! Smeagol writes! We loves to.  
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter V: Lossst  
  
By Us  
  
***  
  
Down.  
  
Down.  
  
Down.  
  
It was a terrible fall. The drop was a long one and the sounds of the topside battle had fast faded, leaving Legolas only to listen to the air as it screeched through his ears. He stared up at the disappearing light of the surface, watching it shrink like a thin lightning bolt against an ever growing lonely black sky.   
  
He had a lot of time to think about the possibilities that would happen when he reached the bottom.  
  
Would there be a bed of rocks, sharp and jagged, for him sleep in? Would it be water, where at this speed would be as deadly as the stones? Or fire, red and hot? Maybe he would plummet to the center of the world and be trapped forever in a dire dark.  
  
His heart fluttered as quickly as a sparrow that found itself with broken wings under a hawk's glare. Death would be sudden, it was sure, and he tried to prepare himself. By Iluvatar and the Secret Fire, he prayed, allow me passage to the hall of Mandos.   
  
That did not comfort him. Everything was too chill and hallow and suffocating - blood in the veins nearly seizing in the turmoil. Only the flying Nazgul had caused his spirit to be at the mercy of such terror, back when he was in the company of Gimli, Pippin, Merry, Gandalf, and soon to be king Aragorn. Frodo and Sam were far gone to the borders of Mordor then.   
  
Legolas missed the days of the Fellowship. If only he could see them all together one more time, including the departed Boromir, impossible as it may be. The Elf had worried sometimes that he would be the last of the nine to remain in life; now it looked like the opposite could come true.  
  
This can't be happening.  
  
This can't!  
  
Yet, still he fell into that long dark, clutching to elusive wishes and denials.  
  
Was this how Gandalf felt? Horrid, soul-draining fear as the world grew further and further away?   
  
But Gandalf had lived, not died -  
  
A gripping gust of wind roared, strong as a tempest. Like a feather he tumbled along with it and felt the fall begin to slow as the updraft grew in strength. A wind tunnel. It was a wind tunnel. Might he float to the ground?  
  
Then the piercing air shoved him one last time, giving the body the lift it needed to just possibly survive. There was a final steep plunge, and the Elf felt himself striking feet first onto a fragile layer of ice which promptly broke, sending him deep into the water. It was  
  
So.  
  
Cold.  
  
The shock of the impact had robbed him of breath, and the icy tomb nearly froze his heart to a stop. His limbs stiffen, and fingers cramped inwards into unbreakable fists. But with a sudden strength born of all warriors Legolas found himself kicking upwards. The wet clothing dragged at him like the many tentacles of the Watcher, slowing the fight for life.   
  
There was that music in the water, the snatch of melody heard so faintly back at the Mirrormere, now clear as a soft bird . . .  
  
Swim!  
  
He wanted to breathe.   
  
Swim!  
  
He needed to breathe, to live and see the ocean again.  
  
Swim!  
  
Legolas shattered through the surface and gasped. With numbed fingers the archer clawed and broke a path in the thin ice. He headed any direction, wanting to find a shore that he could rest upon. The danger of the fall was over, but now the cold could claim him.  
  
When all seemed lost his feet touched ground, and dry rock was under his palms. He lunged and came on land, and Legolas crawled far from the underground lake. Hastily the top layer of his clothes were pulled and tossed off to keep heat from escaping into the wetness. There in the silence did he curl up and shiver.  
  
Hands trembled and could barely move. His whole body stiffened once more and refused to do more than shake.   
  
He must find warmth soon, lest the alluring call of forever sleep take over.   
  
But for now, just rest . . .  
  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Notes: *jerks awake* Eh? What is this? Why are there gash marks on my keyboard? *frowns* 


	6. Meanwhile, Upstairs

Notes: Blah, my pet fighting fish, Bobby Drake, died soon after writing the last chapter. I only had him for two months, but I feel like such a bad owner. This is the reason I don't have cats or dogs.  
Gollum: Fissh.  
  
***  
  
The Return to Moria  
  
Chapter VI: Meanwhile, Upstairs  
  
By RubyD  
  
***  
  
Gimli saw moments too late that his Elven companion would fall. Without a thought to the battle ravaged Hall he ran for the edge as the sight of Legolas dipped away under the view of a rock horizon. His side flashed in pain and he stumbled, sliding to a stop before the ravine. A breeze kicked dust into the dwarf's eyes, but he could see a shadow of a person already many, many leagues gone, and ever leaving.  
  
"Legolas!"  
  
Far too late.  
  
A dark silhouette fell upon the Dwarf as he shouted and shouted the name in vain, and the Orc bit and clawed Gimli in a frantic fury. Gimli, now too in a rage, grasped the beast by the arms and succeeded in flipping him over. Foul yellow teeth snapped and dove for his face, but he grasped a fallen sword and cut it along the Orc's throat.  
  
Spirit new in strength, Gimli returned to the fray with the sword Legolas had let slip from his fingers. He bellowed and showered the blade on the backs of the enemy. Dwarves and Orcs collapsed in on all sides to an ocean of arms. Those close by in the lower levels had arrived in full force, carrying with them the fire and steel to put out the demons.   
  
Then the oil came. Dwarves that knew what was coming dashed to the protection of walls. Out from high ledges near to the great roof of the Hall was a rain of glass bottles with a short flame which, upon breaking, would send out thick vines like briar made of oil. They would flare to fiery light, spreading with speed, and creatures ran to escape the burning thorns. Glittering axes would greet them.  
  
Then onyx-tipped arrows, shot by Orcs, rose as wasps to strike at the oil-glass. Cutting shards and fire landed on all, and the heat of the place was suffocating. Deadly slings appeared, sending missiles of shrill stones to the foes.  
  
No one was winning.  
  
The dying onslaught of beasts suddenly drew back at the cry of a horn. The Orcs paused, stopped, almost as statues.  
  
It then sounded again. It was a piercing and sickly note, Gimli thought, so different from the noble tones of Boromir's and Merry's horns. It was a message of a type; the call to retreat. The horde began to filter quickly out into dark holes and thin caves, hissing in wrathful abandon.   
  
The Dwarves took pursuit in elation, slaying those that straggled behind. They cried out at the perceived victory, celebrating like brothers back from a hunt. Gimli did not join and stood alone, clutching to the sword of his lost comrade.   
  
***  
  
'I insist we search for him,' Gimli told Lord Talin. They were sitting in the Talin's study, gray and cool with books and maps piled in a nest of papers, preparing for the festival after the scouring of the caverns for any trace of the Orcs.  
  
'Lord Gimli,' Talin sighed, pulling at his short beard. 'There is no way to know if Legolas survived the fall.'  
  
'Gandalf fell, yet lives! What happened once could happen yet again.' He would have stood and paced the room, but his bandaged leg hindered him some.  
  
'Master Gimli.' He tried to reason with a mild voice. 'It has been a difficult day, and all are certainly tired. Tonight Moria will hold a vigilance to those who died bravely, including Legolas, and you will rest. Sleep might clear your confounded head of this irrationality, and tomorrow can shed new wisdom. Then you shall journey to Mirkwood, my friend, to tell the Elf's family of this tragedy. They should be told by someone they trust.'  
  
The Dwarf's face was nearly red at this speech. 'Have you lost your ears? He is alive! I am staying!'  
  
'But, Gimli - '  
  
Gimli said again in a tone that required no argument, 'We search!'  
  
Talin was then subdued by this. 'Fine,' he said thoughtfully after hesitating. 'I can not help, not with the threat of Orcs around. Go on your quest, but I doubt you would find any safe entrance to the bottom of Middle-earth.'  
  
'I know of one.'  
  
'Do you?' he asked, curious.  
  
'The Endless Stairs, by way which Gandalf escaped.'  
  
Talin was incredulous. 'You can not hope to find that. The knowledge of where it lies has been lost for generations, and your wizard friend is not here to show you the way.'  
  
'I will find out.'  
  
'What then? It will be weeks, if not forever, until you find the Stairs. How will the Elf survive that long?'  
  
'He will!' Gimli roared. 'Why do you waste my time asking useless questions? If I am truly as foolish as you must think I am, then let me go on my merry mad way.' He glared, impatient to begin his search and ready to walk out.  
  
'I apologize, I apologize,' Talin spoke quickly and penitently. 'I should not be so think-skinned. He is your worthy friend, and you deserve a chance to look for him. Please, go, and I wish all the luck. Tell me if there is anything I may do to aide you.'  
  
'One thing,' he answered, fury fading. 'Send messengers to Kind Elessar of Gondor, to the Hobbits of the Shire, and the Elves of Mirkwood. Tell them of the news, for they would want to know. I will see the messengers off myself.'  
  
'Yes, of course, at your command,' Talin said, eyes troubled.  
  
With nothing else to say to the other, the two Lords exited the study in silence.  
  
  
To Be Continued  
  
Notes: Well I'm definitely getting the exposition out… 


End file.
